On the walls the children saw a great crowd of cats, all waving paws and tails, and mewing wildly.
“My goodness! I believe it’s a city of cats!” gasped Rob, dropping Lois’s hand in his amazement. “For pity’s sake—”
But he could get no further, for Ban-Ban and Kiku-san dashed through the gates of Purrington, the children after them, too dazed to realize fully the wonderful adventure that had befallen them.
And the instant they passed the gates it was just as Tommy Traddles had said it would be: Rob and Lois understood every word that the cats on the walls, and swarming around their feet, were saying. And they discovered that what they had taken for a chorus of mews was in reality a song of welcome, sung to the air of “Bonnie Dundee,” with these words:
“Welcome, oh, welcome, you are truly well come,
Dear Ban-Ban and Kiku-san, back to your home!
To Purrington first our good Brindle Ban brought,
And sympathy now from our child friends he’s sought.
Chorus: “Then climb on the walls, and wave happy tails;
When Ban-Ban attempts he sure never fails;